


Until You Can't See Land

by waketosleep



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Desert, F/M, cotton candy bingo, open spaces
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-21
Updated: 2012-10-21
Packaged: 2017-11-16 19:13:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/542889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waketosleep/pseuds/waketosleep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Is it weird to kind of miss the desert?"</p><p>"Absolutely," said Clint.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Until You Can't See Land

**Author's Note:**

> For my Cotton Candy Bingo prompt 'Desert'. Set in the same timeline as the other fics I've written about this pairing.

Darcy had to admit, the view from the High Line was pretty great: she was standing on grass and looking out over the city. From one direction, she could see the road below and the line of yellow cabs. From another direction, she could see down the length of the old tracks and if she stood just right, the path between the buildings looked like a vanishing tunnel that went into infinity and twisted her brain up. Some hipster toodled past on his fixie and the breeze was warm and summery and teased at her hair in a delightful, glamourous way. But she found herself looking at the scenery, searching hard for something that wasn't there. She thought she could see a glimpse of steel blue kind of poking out between two brownstones but it could have just been the reflection of the sky off a window, or something.

It made her feel strangely uneasy. She went back to sit down with Clint on the bench he'd commandeered.

"Pretty nice, huh?" he said. His face was tilted back into the warmth of the sun and his eyes were probably closed behind his sunglasses. She leaned back on the arm he had slung across the back of the bench.

"Yep," she said, trying to sound like she meant it. He just hummed faintly, relaxing into the bench like he was trying to become one with it. When in Rome, Darcy decided, and slouched into his side, staring up at a cloud that looked a little like a dolphin.

Probably ten minutes passed like that before she could articulate what was bothering her, finally.

"Is it weird to kind of miss the desert?"

"Absolutely," said Clint.

"See, I find your instant response that I'm a freak kind of hurtful," said Darcy.

He sat up a little and looked at her over the top of his sunglasses. "I thought we were talking in generalities. But you are a freak," he amended.

"I will twist your nipple _off_ ," she hissed, making a grab for his chest that he fended off with a very unmanly giggle.

He caught her hand and held it between them. "You miss the desert? I can say confidently that I've never seen a desert I could miss once I left it."

Darcy was willing to concede that Clint spent most of his time in deserts being shot at, and that was fair. "I just," she grasped for words, "the _space_."

"The space. You mean the horizon? How you can watch the dog run away for two days?"

"Exactly. Sometimes the city feels claustrophobic."

"I can't decide if your attitude is typical paranoid fieldwork noob or nostalgic yokel."

"Fuck you!"

"Your mother lives in goddamn Utah!" he said, grinning. "Utah!"

"You grew up in Iowa, motherfucker."

"I left when I was twelve," he countered.

"Ugh," said Darcy, and he reeled her in to kiss her forehead.

She smiled just a little to herself, while he couldn't see.

"Wanna head out?" he asked after a moment.

"Yeah, okay. Let's get pizza." Darcy stood up and he heaved himself up after her, sliding an arm around her waist as they went back to wandering down the path over the old train tracks.

***

When Darcy went back to work on Monday, there was a postcard of the Mohave Desert sitting on her desk, flat brown sand and a Joshua tree standing prominently in the foreground. The back said, ' _72ND ST MARINA, 6PM_ ' in Clint's handwriting.

Darcy squinted at it.

"What's up?" said Natasha, appearing suddenly next to her desk.

Darcy startled and stuck the postcard in a drawer. "Nothing," she said.

***

Clint was waiting by the entrance to the marina when she got there at six sharp; he grinned and grabbed her hand, leading the way into the marina and along one of the docks to a boat slip with a speedboat in it.

"You don't get seasick, right?" he asked.

"You own a boat?" Not that she knew why he still surprised her, ever.

"It belongs to a buddy of mine. He's letting us borrow it tonight. Come on." He jingled the keys to the boat and gestured grandly at it.

Not seeing any way around it, Darcy got in and settled into the front passenger seat, which was cushy; well done, Clint's friend. Clint fired up the engine and guided them out of the slip gently, and to his credit waited until they were a very safe distance from the docks before he opened up the throttle all the way and started trying to exceed MACH 1.

It was kind of fun.

After maybe half an hour, though, he suddenly eased off the throttle and the boat slowed to a bobbing crawl. Then he killed the engine and silence hit Darcy's ears in a way it hadn't since she'd moved to the city.

"There," said Clint, sitting back and taking off his sunglasses.

Darcy sat up and looked around. They were out in the middle of nowhere. She could see the curvature of the earth where the water met the sky. The boat bobbed gently around and made her feel like napping. She realized abruptly what he'd been going for.

"It doesn't get much flatter than the ocean, does it?" she observed.

He grinned.

Darcy stretched and settled into her seat, staring at the horizon. "I love you," she said.

"I know."

Darcy smirked.

 

THE END


End file.
